Ira Greenstein

Partner | Corporate

About

Ira brings vast legal, political and corporate experience to Pierson Ferdinand. Most recently, Ira served as Senior Advisor to Qrypt, Inc., a quantum cryptography company, from 2019-2021 and was Deputy Assistant and Strategist to President Trump from 2017-2018 where his portfolio included senior Presidential vetting and appointments, NIH reform, China competition and the Mueller investigation.

  • From 2011-2017, Ira was President of Genie Energy, Ltd., a retail energy and oil and gas exploration company spun off from IDT Corp., an international telecommunications carrier. Ira was President and Counsel to the Chairman of IDT from 2000 to 2011, and served as counsel to companies including Net2Phone, Inc., a pioneer in Voice over Internet Protocol.

    Ira was previously a Partner at FisherBroyles, LLP. Prior to that, Ira was a Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP and Chairman of its New York office’s business department. He was also an Associate in the New York and Toronto offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP – serving on the Securities Advisory Committee and as secondment counsel to the Ontario Securities Commission. At the OSC, Ira advised on the implementation of the US-Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System and on the securities law aspects of NAFTA.

    Ira has served on the Boards of Directors of NanoVibronixInc. and Regal Bank of New Jersey, and on the Boards of Trustees of Young Israel of Scarsdale, Ramaz, SAR Academy and Friends of Jerusalem College of Technology. Ira is a member of the Dean’s Council at Columbia University Law School.


Practices

  • International Trade

  • Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Political Law and Litigation

  • Private Equity and Venture Capital

  • Securities

Admissions

  • New York


Education

  • Columbia JD, 1985

  • Cornell BS, 1981

Law Firm Experience

  • FisherBroyles, LLP

  • Skadden Arps; Morrison & Foerster


Corporate Experience

  • IDT Corporation

  • Genie Energy LTD

  • Net2Phone

  • Qrypt, Inc